Palace reject Blues AJ bid

Crystal Palace have rejected a bid from Blues to re-sign former striker Andrew Johnson.

Blues offered Palace £3 million cash plus two un-named players, but Palace made it clear the bid – worth £6.5 million in total – was unwelcome.

‘We have been told that Andrew Johnson is not for sale,’ said Blues co-owner David Sullivan.

‘Their view is they’re going for promotion and wouldn’t look at selling him until the summer at least, assuming they didn’t make it.’

Blues’ bid for AJ is in line with Steve Bruce’s opinion that he needs to bring in a pacy striker, with the £3 million offered demonstrating that there is cash available for this.

Whilst AJ would have been a welcome addition to the squad, Palace owner Simon Jordan was always unlikely to sell to us, having previously intimated that he would never do business with the club. Bruce is likely to now move on to other targets, which could include £3million-rated West Brom striker Robert Earnshaw, and Izale McLeod of MK Dons.